The King is Dead

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

from left to right: Pirate Officer (bo'sun) and Swashbuckler (Davenport's Academy)
Sailors can be seen in the background

With the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and the impending publication of Buccaneer: Hell and High Water, it seems a good time to revisit my favorite Savage Worlds publication – Pirates of the Spanish Main – and put together some V.E.N.U.S. (Venturers, Experimenters, Navigators, and the Unusually Skilled) packages. Any references to unfamiliar Edges and Hindrances should be assumed to refer back to Pirates of the Spanish Main.

The Nautical Ranks section of Pirates of the Spanish Main also breaks down different shipboard roles and their associated suggested Traits and Edges. Game Masters interested in incorporating Savage Rifts®-style packages into their PotSM games may also consider adapting those sample options as a basis.

Master Gunner or Gunner’s Mate

Bonus Attributes: +2 dice Smarts

Bonus Hindrances: the player’s choice of Hard of Hearing [Minor] and one other Minor Hindrance AND Branded or Vow [Major; serve the Crown] depending on whether the character is a pirate or a naval seaman

Bonus Skills: +3 Repair; +4 dice Shooting

Bonus Hindrances: the player’s choice of Hard of Hearing [Minor] and one other Minor Hindrance AND Branded or Vow [Major; serve the Crown] depending on whether the character is a pirate or a naval seaman

This framework includes boatswains (bo’suns), captains, first mates, quartermasters, and sailing masters – all important leadership roles whose work keeping the ship on course and maintaining discipline means they receive an extra share of booty. Captains only must take an extra Hindrance as outlined below; in return, they receive the Captain Edge and the free ship that comes with it.

Bonus Skills: +2 dice Knowledge (Navigation); +3 dice Boating

Bonus Hindrances (captains only): the player’s choice of Branded, One Arm, One Eye, One Leg, or Wanted [Major]

Bonus Edges: Command and the player’s choice of Helmsman, Storm Chaser, or a Leadership Edge for which the character qualifies; captains receive the Captain Edge as well.

Bonus Hindrances: Swashbucklers whose academy perquisites cost more than nine character creation points may take the Arrogant, Cocky, Code of Honor, Death Wish, Enemy [Major or Minor], Garrulous, Heroic, Trouble Magnet [Major or Minor], Vengeful [Major or Minor], and Vow [Major or Minor] Hindrances to make up for the needed points; see below for more details

Bonus Edges: Fencing Academy; see below for more details

Bonus Gear: the weapons associated with their fencing academy

A special feature of Pirates of the Spanish Main is the presence of the Fencing Academy Edge and the associated schools. Each school confers different bonuses when fighting hand-to-hand (an extra +2 on Disarms or Tricks, access to Combat Edges at lower ranks, etc.) and a secret technique taught only to members who have been with the school for three years of game time.

Qualifying for each school requires different prerequisite combinations of Attribute, skills, and Edges. The most expensive schools require the equivalent of ten additional character creation points; the majority of them require six.

Swashbucklers receive nine additional character creation points to purchase the Fencing Academy Edge and their academy’s prerequisites. If they have points left over after qualifying, they may use these to purchase Edges associated with their school (such as the Dirty Fighter or Improvisational Fighter Edges associated with Davenport’s Academy). If their school has no associated Edges, they may use leftover points to purchase additional dice in Agility and Strength or the Acrobat Edge.

from left to right: Naval Officer, Swashbuckler (Royal Fencing Academy), Pirate Officer (with Branded Hindrance)
sand can be seen in the background

I spent some time this weekend re-watching some MST3K Hercules movie riffs, and decided to throw together something for my own amusement. Those seeking something a little more awesome from their sword-and-sandal gaming should look to Mythos from Mystical Throne Entertainment. These V.E.N.U.S. (Venturers, Experimenters, Navigators, and the Unusually Skilled) packages are all thoroughly in the vein of cheesy fun.

Super-Strong Demigod

The central protagonists of any peplum tale are inevitably supremely-muscled beings of astonishing strength. Hated by corrupt local rulers for their goodness or cursed by malignant gods opposed to the heroes’ divine parents, these Super-Strong Demigods find their lives constantly threatened by murderous plots and monsters.

The classic pepla of the 1950s and 1960s featured such Classical mythological figures as Hercules, Perseus, and Ulysses, such Biblical mythological figures as Goliath and Samson, and such quasi-literary characters as Ursus (based on a character from Quo Vadis?) and Maciste (a character who bloomed from a silent movie strongman into a full-fledged folk hero). Modern pepla roleplayers may wish adopt such roles as: Atalanta, the fierce huntress raised by bears; Dido, warrior-queen and founder of Carthage; Galatea, the beauty born from stone; and such Amazons as Antiope, Hippolyta, Myrina, Penthesilea, and others.

Note that while Super-Strong Demigods’ strength is superhuman, they have no special immunities to harm. Players of demigods are advised to invest in Vigor and increasing their Parry.

Bonus Attribute: +4 dice Strength. Super-Strong Demigods may purchase their Strength up to d12+4; the professional and Expert Edges can increase this to d12+6.

Bonus Gear: a riding horse or chariot with team with which the hero travels the Mediterranean world battling evil; Super-Strong Demigods seem to always be able to find at hand a convenient boulder, broken column, or fallen tree to utilize as a large improvised weapon.

Lookout

The Lookout’s role is to shout “look out!” when the Super-Strong Demigod is about to be attacked from ambush or about to fall into a trap. Due to their innocuousness and watchfulness, such characters often prove instrumental in discovering the conspiracies by which evil rulers and mad cultists seek to ensnare the Demigod as well.

Lookouts may be love interests (damsels in distress and distressed dudes) or comedy relief (doddering dotards, little people, wannabe heroes) but rarely have the martial competence to serve as Secondary Protagonists. Lookouts frequently specialize in Healing and other supporting skills.

Bonus Attribute: +1 die Vigor

Bonus Skills: +2 dice Stealth, +3 dice Notice

Bonus Hindrances: Weakness [Minor; Lookouts are at -4 to Notice danger to themselves]

Secondary Protagonists lack the gods-given power of Demigods but make up for it with wits and dexterity. They often serve a literally junior role to the primary protagonists of pepla, being sons of Hercules or wards like the young version of Ulysses. They may be love interests of the Super-Strong Demigod (Gabrielle, Hylas) or have the romantic sub-plot foisted on them (especially if they are the Demigod’s own child). Rarely, the Secondary Protagonist may assume the role of a mythological figure better known for brains than brawn (Autolycus, Theseus).

Monday, May 29, 2017

My latest piece of freelance work is available for purchase! Poison Drift is a module for Olympus, Inc., the urban fantasy cyberpunk setting from Fabled Environments. It combines a couple of real-world wine-related headlines with a bit of Larry Hama-esque military adventure into a tight little session or two of adventure. There might be a bit of weird humor as well.

From DriveThruRPG:

Stop a demigod from perpetrating fraud, our Shadow said...easy money, he said. No one said anything about a catoblepas!

In Poison Drift, you and your team are tasked with tracking down and stopping a demigod that is duping unsuspecting Sleepers. Easy, right? When demigods are involved, nothing is easy! You quickly find yourselves wrapped up in saving a nymph and dealing with a mythical cow that really stinks.

Welcome to Olympus, Inc!

This short adventure written for Olympus Inc. is designed to easily slip into any campaign as a side job or it can be run at a gaming convention or local game store in a four hour slot. A new Mythical Creature is presented along with the adventure. 8 1/2" x 11" copies of floorplans from our Two-story Warehouse, and Arctic Research Station are included with this adventure.

Presentation follows the standard trade dress for Fabled Environments and Olympus Inc. volumes, with the text embedded in a pretty clean gray text box over a color background image. Illustrations are a blend of color photography (typified by the cover image above) and black-and-white ink drawings. The illustrations for Dr. Aurelia Bodega (a helpful satyr PhD) and Dr. Melissa Phix (an unhelpful satyr) are dead-on perfect for the personalities I had in mind for both characters.

The big bonus for Game Masters running this adventure is the inclusion of scaled-down versions of two of Fabled Environments' Modern Floorplans maps. Game Masters who want battlemap-sized versions should also consider purchasing the full versions of the Two-Story Warehouse and Arctic Research Station for tactical play.

I got some great feedback from Charles White while writing the adventure, so I hope this turns out as fun for you to play as it was for me to write. Please leave comments or reviews with your impressions! Buy Poison Drift at DriveThruRPG!

Friday, May 26, 2017

Robin and I are trying to get into the headspace needed to finally wrap up The King is Dead and we’re doing that the only way we know how: playing it. All my best world-building either comes from frittering about on the blog or actual play, and I need to maintain some mystery for the book, so actual play it is. This particular campaign is deliberately structured as a bildungsroman – a coming-of-age story – that will see our heroine traipsing all about Malleus as she searches for her place and grows in maturity.

Our heroine is Rosalind Werner, the illegitimate dhampir daughter of a vampire duke; this marks the first time I’ve seriously tried to explore dhampirs as characters and was chosen so that we could see the vampire side of things along with the human. Rosalind was raised in a human household and scorned by her vampire father, so she has little direct experience with vampire high society. Schooled from childhood to contain – even fear – her bloodthirsty nature by a mother heartbroken by her vampire lover’s betrayal, Rosalind has an unusually strong conscience for a dhampir. One might even describe her as oddly naïve sometimes.

The goal is to bounce around the Mallean archipelago and hit some underexplored aspects of the setting. Rosalind is not a member of a secret society, so she currently has several competing for her attention (the Bluestockings most aggressively, but also Ananzi’s Web, the Illuminated, the Clann O’Naill, and Countess Erzabeta’s school for vampire temptresses – the latter of which I really need a name for besides “Erzabeta’s coven”). Freeing up Rosalind to travel around the countryside will undoubtedly require some sort of terrible family tragedy or reversal of fortune, but I’m hoping we can get her at least semi-involved in the revolution before that happens.

(I like pro-active protagonists, which is why I often run rogue- or politically-oriented campaigns. People who work toward their own motivations and goals are more interesting to me than defenders of society or ideals who react to villains’ plots. While it makes sense for Rosalind to start sheltered and naïve – how else could we have a sympathetic dhampir? – I look forward to her taking her life in her own hands.)

Plotting out our duet campaigns too much in advance robs them of vitality and fun, but I do know some incidents and scenes I want to make occur:

A nightmarish masked ball at a country estate, where the attending noblemen’s daughters are trotted out as commodities for political marriages and favor-trading sexual liaisons, as an example of the truly inhuman depravity of the aristocracy.

A raid by the Holy Panoptic Church’s inquisition (and possibly a trial for heresy), as an example of the brutish terror the church wields. I usually tend to depict them as the weakest party in the ruling triumvirate of king, aristocracy, and church, but The Holy Panoptic Church should be equally terrifying. Their power is more subtle but no less real.

Fleeing the authorities across the moors of Lochland only to be captured by a band of Clann O’Naill highlanders. Rosalind, as a dhampir, will quickly evolve into a physical powerhouse once she begins learning to defend herself (and possibly learning some blood sorcery), so the highlanders will have to present a decent physical challenge (even if this is meant to resolve amicably). I’ve toyed with the idea of the Clann O’Naill having Highlander-like psionic highlanders, so this would be a good place to insert one.

Scenes in the Afari and Keltisch slums of Hammerstadt, possibly highlighting racial tensions and inter-society strife. We certainly need to have our heroine see firsthand the degradation some people endure, and the generosity that even the most downtrodden can extend.

A horseback chase in the company of Raubritters. Heck, I’d like a tavern crawl with Raubritters, for that matter; some sort of Beggar’s Opera interlude.

Some time deep in the mountains of Malleus, out in the wilderness where things are savage yet sane.

Really, I just want a chance to dig into the interiority of each secret society, so I want a highlight chapter for each one. A chance to inhabit a member of each group and articulate their goals in character should really help.

Any way… Things are going well for now and in the next week or so I should be able to spend more time directly writing that setting rather than other people’s, so we hope for serious progress on The King is Dead soon.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Years ago, Lupin III and gang saved the world from the wrath of Mamo,* a 10,000 year-old mastermind who had extended his life through alchemical cloning experiments. Now it appears that Mamo has somehow returned, bringing with him a plethora of the Lupin gang’s fallen foes and threatening to send the world crashing into chaos.

Act I: A Robbery Interrupted

The adventure begins in media res as Lupin III [red jacket or green jacket at player’s discretion], Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko flee robbing the Louvre pursued by Inspector Zenigata and a squad of policemen. Suddenly, Mr. Flinch [Wild Card; as the Super Powers Companion character Knave of Clubs] – Mamo’s long-deceased henchman – and a handful of Fuma clan ninja** [Extras; as Ninja without attack, melee] attack, wiping out the police and challenging the heroes. The Game Master may call for a Fear check as the heroes stagger with the surprise of fighting a dead foe (Goemon is at -2 because he personally killed Flinch in a hard-fought battle); those who fail suffer fear/nausea. When the Lupin gang inevitably defeat their opponents, additional police reinforcements arrive, leading to a Chase scene. Cue opening credits and the classic Lupin III theme song.

Note: If six people are playing, the sixth player plays the other choice between green jack and red jacket Lupin. At the beginning of the act, green jacket Lupin is teamed with Jigen and Goemon while red jacket Lupin is teamed with Fujiko; both teams meet while fleeing robbing separate treasures from the Louvre (possibly the Mona Lisa and the pyxis of al-Mughira). If seven or eight people are playing, the extra three players run Zenigata’s lieutenants [as Wild Card Investigators]. They run into the other Lupins after reconvening at their headquarters.

Act II: Strange Bedfellows

Reconvening at a ruined chateau outside of Paris, Lupin’s gang has a moment to reflect on this strange reappearance (or fight over who the real Lupin is, if multiple Lupins are playing). The Game Master may allow Goemon an opportunity for an Interval, reflecting on his duel with Flinch or his long years of self-sacrifice while mastering swordsmanship. [The Game Master will not correct Goemon’s player if the player has not seen or does not remember The Mystery of Mamo.] Have all of the Lupins draw a card; the winner can also indulge in an Interval to tell a story of why their Lupin is the real Lupin III.

Proximity alarms alert the gang that Inspector Zenigata has arrived – alone and bearing a white flag. When confronted by the other heroes, Zenigata pleads with them to assist him. The INTERPOL database has been hacked by the Mamo Organization and is threatening to plunge world law enforcement into chaos. The Game Master can prompt Zenigata to tempt Lupin III with the chance to save his legacy; if the database is wiped, then all knowledge of Lupin's crimes will be lost! [Go with it, people; it's cartoon logic. Bribe the players with a Benny if need be.]

The debate is suddenly interrupted by the image of Mamo breaking through on their security camera screens, TV, and smart phones. He gloats about escaping Lupin's treachery [smile evilly if players protest that Mamo was just a giant brain that was floating dead in space at the end of the movie] and challenges the team to a scavenger hunt. If they can beat some of their resurrected foes to recover certain special items, then Mamo will unlock the INTERPOL database.

When the players agree, launch into the next act.

Act III: We Need a Montage!

Using a modified version of Sean Patrick Fannon's Freedom Squadron Plans & Operations rules (as found when you back his Patreon), cut to a montage of heist adventures as the team splits up into smaller groups in order to get all the treasures in time. [Only one Lupin III is allowed per team if multiple Lupins are playing.] Most of the scenes should involve more than one character at a time, but solo scenes can be useful. Intersperse the heists with opportunities for the players who have not done Interludes to do so, preferably relating to opponents they are about to confront.

Count Cagliostro**** – counterfeiter and would-be king of an idyllic European monarchy – has recovered the “goat bills” Lupin III cost him and now intends to flood counterfeit currency into the USA through Las Vegas casinos. [As the Spider.]

Count Luis y Almeida***** – a Spanish fascist whose experiments in psychological torture created trouble for Fujiko – has abducted Goemon’s fiancée Murasaki Suminawa and intends to brainwash her into being the ultimate ninja assassin. [As Decay, but with radiation effects swapped for fear and hallucinations.]

The Fuma Ninja Boss** – whose skill in swordsmanship rivals even Goemon – leads an expedition to recover the sword Excalibur in the quiet English town of Glastonbury. [As the Black Samurai.]

Puma****** – a dangerous assassin who works hard to never be seen – hunts Queen Clarisse of Cagliostro while she visits Istanbul on an international goodwill tour. [As Huntsman.]

Pycal******* -- a fire-using “magician” whom Lupin has already killed twice – threatens to immolate the Museum of Modern Art unless the heroes duel him at the Statue of Liberty. [As Oktober.]

[The writer reserves the right to mix things up and work up proper stats for the villains if he has time.]

Every time a villain is defeated, the heroes receive a partial clue to Mamo’s location. Once all the challenges are beaten, the clues can be deciphered and the gang proceeds to Mamo’s lair (which is not on his old private island, but might be back in Paris).

Act IV: The Secret of Mamo

The Lupin gang enters Mamo’s office, escorted in by a small army of mercenaries (many of whom they might vaguely remember as soldiers of fortune with whom they’ve crossed paths). Mamo sits at a desk behind a shield of bulletproof plexiglass. He concedes their success, laughing at their distress. [Bribe the players with a "you-can't-attack-the-villain-until-he-finishes-his-monologue" Benny.)

As weird and non-human the tiny, wizened man always was, there’s something really weird about him. When he reaches out a hand to push the button that unlocks the INTERPOL files, the hero with the highest Notice roll realizes that his arm is being moved by a thin rod – like a Muppet. Suddenly, everyone realizes that Mamo is merely a puppet, and the puppeteer sits in the chair behind him, wearing a concealing suit made of the same upholstery as the chair. The mystery villain laughs, tearing off his costume (or leaping free if one of the heroes slashes or shoots through the plexiglass), revealing himself to be Lupin III!

This false (?) Lupin claims to be the real one, long ago having gone underground to run the true, ruthless Lupin Organization as the international crime ring it was meant to be – and that the heroic Lupin(s) and gang have been thwarting his plans for years. He summons clones of the heroes and goes on the attack [as duplicates of the heroes, but with Game Master character allotments of Bennies; the villainous Lupin III possibly has Extra Action, allowing him to stay ahead of the heroes while the villainous clones perhaps have an extra die of damage in their attack powers].

Mystery shrouds the early life of the man called Lupin III, heir to the name and infamy of French Belle Époque cat burglar Arsène Lupin; even his ethnic identity is confused as some sources identify his mother as French and his father as Japanese (instead of the opposite, as one might expect from the Frenchman's grandson). Certainly, a Lupin Organization crime family flourished during the postwar years, apparently founded by the original Lupin's (possibly illegitimate) son. This organization floundered in later decades as the ostentatious burglar and con man Lupin III appeared on the scene, with some informants indicating that the original Lupin's grandson only emerged into the criminal underworld to avenge his family.

If that was Lupin III's motivation, he quickly abandoned it for a life of thrill-seeking adventure. Targeting mainly the corrupt and the powerful (including the occasional government), Lupin III swiftly became the target of a focused INTERPOL manhunt, making a lifetime rival of Inspector Koichi Zenigata. In the years since, Lupin III has been captured many times but rarely imprisoned (though a strange incident involving the geneticist Mamo did result in a clone of Lupin III hanging for his crimes). The master thief and his crew regularly topple dictators, defeat terrorists, and upend the schemes of rival criminals in their pursuit of wealth and treasure.

Lupin III is completely obsessed with Fujiko Mine, but he recognizes her unscrupulous nature and treats her with no more favoritism while on the job than any of his associates. He appreciates the loyalty of Daisuke Jigen and Goemon Ishikawa XIII, but also admits that Jigen is sometimes intractable for no good reason while faintly resenting Goemon's haughtiness. Lupin III is possibly the happiest of his crew to see Inspector Zenigata on their tail, never feeling that a heist is quite right until he gets a chance to taunt the policeman.

Players playing Lupin III don't need to declare what invention(s) he's carrying on him in any scene until they declare he is using one. If the invention used does not utilize Lupin III's full 10 Power Point maximum, they may wait to declare other inventions until later in the scene. As per the normal rules for the invent power, Lupin III may share his inventions with teammates (with the normal limitations).

Examples of inventions Lupin III uses:

Calling Card or Warning (3):fear; activated by Taunt; Lupin III warns an intended target by sending a jack-in-the-box or similar prank as a calling card; the fear effect is triggered once the heist begins.

Either a Japanese-American expatriate or an
Americanophile Japanese citizen intimately familiar with the USA, Jigen may be
the most accurate marksman in the world – capable of shooting another gunman’s
bullet out of the air after a 0.3 second quick-draw..

The earliest accounts of Daisuke Jigen make him
an operative of the Lupin criminal empire under Lupin III’s father, perhaps
even assigned to “activate” the younger Lupin once the Lupin organization was
endangered; later recollections by Lupin III and Jigen indicate they instead
met and bonded on a job. Regardless, Jigen has been Lupin III’s right-hand man
since early in the master thief’s career.

Jigen is practical and cooperative, content with
his role as second banana. He enjoys the friendship of Goemon Ishikawa XIII and
respects Inspector Zenigata’s tenacity. The only person frequently in his orbit
that he dislikes is Fujiko Mine, seeing her only as a conniving backstabber –
but then, Daisuke Jigen’s string of tragic romances give him a biased view
toward women in general.

Though trained in the arts of the ninja by either
the Iga or Fuma ninja clans, Goemon prefers to live his life as an
anachronistic samurai, practicing Zen meditation and training in the art of battōjutsu.

Goemon Ishikawa XIII originally met Lupin III when
the latter attempted to steal the formula for the alchemical steel that gives
Goemon’s sword the strength to cut any object; after several unsuccessful
attempts to kill each other, the two bonded and became allies. Goemon feels a
genuine kinship with Daisuke Jigen, a friendship stronger than his often opportunistic
alliance with Lupin. He harbors a secret, reluctant crush for Fujiko Mine – indeed,
his self-imposed asceticism makes him an easy mark for any pretty woman – but that
doesn’t mean he’s above taking a peep at her when the opportunity allows. He
counts Inspector Koichi Zenigata as a worthy opponent, but has no strong
feelings for him aside from that.

Reason
exists to believe Fujiko Mine began her career as the partner of a yakuza
assassin nicknamed “Killer Pun,” but the early days of her life of crime were
obscured by a case of amnesia and she was already a burglar and confidence
artist high on INTERPOL’s most wanted list before she met Lupin III. This
amnesia was complicated by false memories of psychosexual torture at the hands
of Count Luis y Almeida planted by the vindictive Aisha. Despite this, all
trustworthy records indicate Fujiko Mine has always been a crafty and
successful career criminal.

Fujiko’s
first encounters with Lupin III were as rivals, not partners, and their
relationship continues to be complicated to this day; despite enjoying Lupin’s
romantic obsession with her – and feeling some affection for him in return –
Fujiko is quick to double-cross her erstwhile lover when it’s to her advantage.
She is aware of Goemon Ishikawa XIII’s attraction to her and enjoys his
company, using him as a partner on ventures without the rest of the gang. She wholeheartedly
returns Daisuke Jigen’s disdain, but would never dream of cutting him out of
Lupin’s gang. Fujiko Mine has partnered with Inspector Zenigata on several occasions
when it served their mutual interests (usually when it meant going up against
Lupin III).

Inspector Zenigata made a name for himself on the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Force as a hard-edged, ruthless cop. While he pursued Fujiko Mine, INTERPOL recruited Zenigata to head its anti-Lupin task force. Zenigata threw himself into the job, abandoning his wife and young daughter as the chase led ever onward.

Even as he spiraled into monomania, Zenigata came to respect Lupin III and his crew, recognizing that as often as not they stole from bigger (and frequently more legitimate) thieves. He formed a respectful rivalry with the thief, deeply mourning Lupin on the surprisingly frequent occasions the burglar faked his death. Because of the many times they have inadvertently saved the world, Inspector Zenigata has sworn to bring Lupin III and gang in alive.

Zenigata recognizes the unique talents each member of Lupin III's gang brings to their work: Lupin's strategic and technical genius, Jigen's marksmanship, Goemon's martial prowess, and Fujiko's well-rounded abundance of skills. He works hard to maintain professional distance, however, when circumstances force them to work together.

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Featuring "The Super-Power Toybox: Beyond Capes and Tights"

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Featuring "An Abundance of Gods," an examination of Shinto.

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Contains "The Badass," a new character archetype complete with new Edges, Hindrances, and a funky grindhouse adventure; "La Pantera," a Zorro-esque pulp superheroine and her supporting cast; and "Zhàndòu: City of Warriors," a wuxia setting that includes adventure seeds and crappy maps I drew!